I was just wondering what everyones thoughts were on the proposition of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
I understand that it is probably the most econimic solution to the impending oil crisis, but I am not in favor of this plan at all. Why not kick some people off their land and out of their homes? Well, because they vote, thats why. -_-; I belive that by expanding oil operations, rather than finding a cleaner sorce of energy, we are condeming this planet and its inhabitants to a slow death akin to what was going on in the series Wolf's Rain.

no one lives in the national wilf life refuge, it's just a bunch of ugly tundra, nothing like the pictures the show you. They should drill the oil out of it :\

i still think we need to invest in finding alternate energy sources

Have you even seen where they want to drill? Its a big dirt mound cover in snow.... no trees, no animals. The pipeline will not scare animals off. tree huggers are so full of it. Besides, even if people lived there, kick them off their land anyways. My grandparets got kicked off their property cuzz the airport wanted to expand. The government has the power to do that as long as they pay fair price for the property. It wouldnt be illegal. Infact my grandparents have a better house now.

no one wants alternative fuel, it costs to much to research it and when it starts out it would be more expensive than gas, because of greedy coperate companies wanting all their research money back along with a few extra bucks.

It shouldn't be too hard to figure out where I stand on this. I know we need fuel, but we're going to eventually have to rely on something besides oil, we need to get to the point where alternate fuels are actually affordable and practicle.

*throws oranges* I want an alternative to fossile fuel! (tho I do like the smell of gas ^_^; ) and Im not the only one :meh: Seriously tho, cost should not be top factor when seeking a cleaner feul sorce. The state of/ future of the planet should be.
Sledgers n I talk 'bout this sometimes. We've already decided that when we buy a house to take up permenent residence we're putting up a windmill. No more electric/gas bill :happy: It will cost a nice chunk of change at the start, but within (usually 3 to 5 years) it will pay for itself and then some.
A far as "the impending oil crisis" goes, wow, you have no idea how right on that statement is. Probably not in our lifetime, but within the lifetime of our childern, crude will be a memory. It's foolish to think there's an unlimited supply, cuz theres not. Humans have been slurping it outta the ground faster then nature can put it back in. Coal will last longer then crude. My friend tree has her AS and is going for her BS in enviro science. We've talked about this sort of thing at length.
Drill in a wildlife refuge? hmmm.. I dont have details about the flora and fauna withen the project site so I cant really make am educated guess about the impact on the micro climate of the area. The planets Arctic regions are already in peril as it is. Even if we stop useing fossile fuels right this second it will still be decades before we see any positive effect on the envionment.
I know a bird in the hand is better then 2 in the bush, but not if the bird in yer hand is the last of an endangered species. With the oil up there, we know its there and its just a matter of getting it. But it too will run out no matter how much cash we chuck at the drilling project.
We live in the greatest country in the frigin world. We would better serve ourselves and the rest of the world by finding and adopting alternative feul sorces. New drilling is just putting a bandaid on an old and terribly deep wound. It might make it appear better, but its not better. It will just expidite the impending oil crisis. It might not look that way at first when the price of a gallon of gas drops 40 cents, but just wait 20 or 30 years to when a gallon of gas will be 5 bucks or more due to the shortage of crude. -_-;
I think instead of drilling we should nip the energy crisis in the bud and invest in alternative energy resurch and development.
I would rather have to cough up more cash now to help pay for the resurch and development of a new energy sorce then leave my decendants in a world of shit. So yeah... there's my 2 cents for the day

In either case it will still take years to develop, market, and finally convert everyone to this new feul type. Thats fine if they need to do that, but I say, Drill, flip the middle east the finger, and rely on our own sorces. If they do come up with some alternative, we wont be relying on the middle east while we wait.

I totaly see your point. Nobody wants to be dependent on a forien country for our energy.
But we better do something now or we'll be twice as screwed when the wells start to dry up :(

if we dry up

I totaly see your point. Nobody wants to be dependent on a forien country for our energy.
But we better do something now or we'll be twice as screwed when the wells start to dry up :(
Alaska would last a very very very long time. We have like 50 years of it conserved. surely that would be enough time to find some other way. 0-o or else we would need some new scientists.

aqu love, its not a matter of if we dry up, its a matter of when. You'll learn more about it when you get into enviro science classes.
Yeah, we might get 50 yrs outta the new drill site, but in the grander scheme of things, thats still not much time.
We need to hussle up and find those brilliant scientists to solve the energy crisis like yesterday O_O

Lady love, that's just one theory. You'll learn more about it if you do your homework :)

http://www.aapg.org/explorer/2002/11nov/abiogenic.cfm

and thats another theory. O_o it doesn't change the fact that oil is not a sound reliable source of fuel for the future. all we'd have is what, alaska? i thought the US imported oil from 10 or so different countries? the amount of oil the US needs is increasing drastically every year. if a different fuel source isn't considered and started in development soon, opec will be holding the world by the balls. :p

they already do. can ya feel the squeeze my bruddas and sistahs! :meh:

Knowing how to make oil doesnt put it back in the ground. Its a possible alternative that should be studied further.

So long as oil is used as a source of energy, when the energy cost of recovering a barrel of oil becomes greater than the energy content of the oil, production will cease no matter what the monetary price may be. ~Dr. M. King Hubbert

ahem...although i think everyone has valid opinions, but the fact that there is only approximately 40 yearsO_O of oil reserved GLOBALLY to supply the CURRENT rates of energy consumption. Oil production peaked in 1979... remember the gas crisis? (well, prolly not but it's in most history books). And that approximation is if the world stays at it's current rate of oil consuption, which it is not. Energy consuption has risen exponentially in the latter half of the century.

As for drilling in ANWR... I am still in the air on that one. If there were a current program to convert oil dependent energy to alternative nrg I belive there would be a little more incentive to allow for such a tradgedy. You guys think it's a worthless peice of land, but it is an essential ecosystem, ensuring that weather patterns stay somewhat stable, ocean currents remaining at propper temperatures and allignhments... You cant judge by the 'trees or wildlife', but for it;s overall function. The cost of coversion to alternative nrg would be high, but sometimes all you need is a little initial investment for a future of hope... In all reality, we have three options facing us ... get poor (as our affluence is what has caused this crisis), go nuclear (hey...you gotta go somewhere) or go alternative and green really fast and sucsessfully. That is not my personal theory (I adapted that from one of my Prof's thoughts... Charlie Hall), but i agree with him completely.... what do you think?
Even larger of a problem is the impedeing global climate change caused by all our hydrocarbon consumption. Ya know... the greenhouse effect... Global warming...Aside from the fact that we are runnign out of oil and coal (well... theres alot more coal that oil, but it's really dirty to burn...think industrial revolution in England), that oil reseduies are accumulating in the atrmosphere...causing a warming at the caps of the earth and cooling at the equator... another ice age is coming (the end is nigh the end is nigh^_^; ).
Nice article about how fossil fuels are produced, but i dont see how that refutes that we are consuming these fuels faster than we could ever synthesize them... were burnign dinosaur poo n giant ferns in our cars ya know...it simply gave the nitty gritty chemistry behind the proscess formation... so when you do a little more homework that addressed the fact that we are swimming in oil up to our ears i'd like to see that link.
sorry 2 burst your'all's bubble but we need to think globally (red white and blue does not govern the whole world )_ act locally (get out there and do something where you live) and make a difference for you and yourfuture.
..."YOu'll always have enough oil to grease your bycicle chain..." Dr. Charles Hall

I dont remember the gas crisis per say I was pretty young, but I do remember the adults were acting like a herd of startled deer. It was when I learned the difference between regular vs commercial liscense plates. I remember my parents talking about it to one of my aunts. I'm not overjoyed at the prospect of reliving history seeing as how now I'm the one that has to put gas in the car.
-_-;

a lot of ppl think of global warming as a bumhug, but its all too real. I live in the finger lakes, just east of the great lakes. We have had some pretty rediclious snow fall amounts just in the past 3 years. When the Great Lakes are warmer then they should be in the winter it means snow snow and more snow. New Tork state is a good place to look at when studying the envorment. We're situated so that the mountains and great lakes box us in and give us a bit of a microclimate.